Becoming an Athlete

We did a 14 mile bike ride. I was gassed by about 3 miles in, but gutted it out. Turns out I had a low grade fever. Ah well. At least I slept well!!!!!

Russians are evil evil people! The method I used today is from a Russian " Kettlebell guru", Pavel Tsatsouline . Take a strength move and use Ladders to drive your work volume up. This Ladder Combo taxed EVERYTHING! 1A. Clean: 135 x 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1B. Front squat: 135 x 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 My boxing partner got here a little late, so we did this instead of boxing because we only had 30-40 minutes or so. We did this in "I go - You go" fashion. no real rest periods to speak of. I wanted to get some heavy bag work in too, but work got in the way. :(

I like to train using whole body workouts, but today I had to break it up because my traps, lats, glutes and hamstrings (AKA Posterior Chain) were still smashed from the 101 reps of ghetto-bell swings. This is still better than nothing. I'll have to use 18 MAY as a chance to hammer way on my legs and upper back. 1. EZ bar curl: 75 x 3, 5, 8, 8, 10, 8, 8 (45sec rest interval) 2. Hammer curls: 35s x 5, 6, 8, 8, 6, 7, 8, 5 (45Sec RI) 3. Bench press: 205 x 3; 225 x 3; 230 x 3; 135 x 18 (un-timed RI) 4. Overhead press 135 x 4; 115 x 9 Like I said, this is admittedly unbalanced, but I'll make up for it today with fight training and an evening workout that will be one to tell your grand kids about!!!!

It was an awesome Saturday morning. My wife and daughter were working on the heavy bag in the garage and I was setup on the driveway. it was kind of amusing to see the looks we got as people drove by. My workout was brief but exhausting. I set a time limit of 15 minutes and went for as many reps of T-bell swings as possible. My t-bell weighs 63lbs. I was able to get 101 reps before the time limit. Afterwards, I thought I could do 15 minutes of front squats with 155 lbs. I was painfully mistaken. My glutes , hips, and traps were exhausted, so stabilizing the weight was difficult. I got 45 reps in 15 minutes. That's just SAD!!!! Summary: 1. T-bell swings for 15 mins : 101 reps @ 63lbs 2. Front squats for 15 mins : 45 reps @ 155lbs

I didn't have a lot of available time, so again, I dropped the ancillary stuff and just pounded the key lifts. Wide grip pullup: 5, 3, 5 Medium grip pullup: 6, 5, 4 Close grip chinup: 5, 4 Overhead press: 135 x 5; 145 x 5; 150 x 5* *OH Press @ 150 x 5. Unless I'm mistaken, that's a new personal record for me. I don't recall ever doing that many reps with 150!!!!! I have my new goal set of 185 x 10. That is probably 6-12 months away, but it is a line in the sand none the less. On a side note, I was reminded that getting below a certain degree of body fat% is genetic. I worked out with a long time friend of mine. he and i were training on and off a year ago, and it have been easily 6-9 months since he trained. Despite all that, he is probably at 8% BF!!!! Without even training, he has razor-edged lines seperating his delts from biceps and triceps. I can see where his traps end and his rhomboids or lats start. Sure, he has lost some s...

Yes, Combat training, not fight training. This goes way way back to when I was 18 and training with some guys at the Air Force Academy. Forearm conditioning : about 10 minutes We had what is essentially a mallet handle; a hardwood rod. We used that to beat eachother's forearms to get them used to being a striking implement. The bones of my forearm are a little sore today, but no bruises on the soft tissues at all. Flank (thigh, obliques, ribs) conditioning : >=10 minutes Start from a left lead stance. Fighter-A kicks Fighter-B in the thigh 5 times, then in the obliques and ribs 5 times. Rotate. After a few sets of 5/5 kicks to each fighter, switch to a right lead stance and kick each other in the right side of the body. Chest and stomach conditioning : mins We used the driveway as our measure. Start at one end. Fighter-A push kicks Fighter-B till you reach the end of your measure, which is about 30-40 feet. Fighter-B push kicks Fighter-A back to the start. As you progress in ab...

4 miles in 40 minutes at 9:00 PM. Nothing spectacular, but a great fat burn.

Wednesday's are becoming consistently back and arms. The actual workouts change, depending on my mood. i like this day to be a bit higher volume and lower metabolic effort. In other words, I take my time and just get in set after set. No need to go crazy with the pace and non-existent rest intervals. 1. Deadlift*: 225 x 2, 5, 5, 8; 275 x 1, 2, 5, 5 2. Close grip chin-up: BW x 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 3, 1 3. Barbell curl: 65 x 12, 12; 85 x 8, 8, 7, 5, 6, 4 That's all, nothing crazy. *Deadlifts: I was still exhausted from Monday and Tuesday. I could feel my lower back fatiguing, so I didn't try to be a hero and cripple myself. my hands are swollen right now and making it hard to type. Later!!!

This was one of the hardest boxing workouts I've had in a few years. Our first phase of the workout served as a warm-up. Middle phase was focused on work output and power, so it totally demolished me. The last phase was a finisher that almost made me and my training partner throw up. Phase 1: Defensive drills - 8 rounds @ 3min / 30sec For one round, Boxer A throws straight punches at Boxer B. Boxer B has to slip outside, or inside the punches occasionally Boxer B may block, but 80% of the effort is going into slipping. Boxer A and Boxer B rotate each round, so they both have equal time on offense and defense. As the round progress, you build up to a more realistic pace, and add some movement around the 'ring' to make it progressively more challenging. Throwing so many light punches is great conditioning for your shoulders!!!!! Phase 2: Heavy bag / Shadow boxing - 6 rounds @ 3min / 1min We alternated between heavy bag [power] work and shadow boxing [work output] w...

I got a late start, so I cut out the accessory lifts and just got the meat sets done. 1. Complex at 95lbs. a. Bent row x 10 8 b. SGHP x 7 8 c. Lunges x 4 8 d. Thruster x 2 8 2. Front squats: 165 x 10; 185 x 8; 195 x 6 3. Wide grip pullups: 5, 5, 5, 5 4. Bench press: 195 x 5; 200 x 5; 210 x 5; 135 x 16

I'm starting every day with a light jog. I just need to jog as a simple way to increase my caloric expenditure. Today I did a nice 2 mile jog. My feet are still sore from the Saturday hike. I'll get in a solid lifting session tonight.

We did 10 miles at Bastrop State Park in just under 3 hours. not bad for carrying a pack with food and TONS of water.

I say martial arts and not fight training because we worked techniques that are used to end a fight, and are not permitted in sport fighting. Lots of standing joint manipulation, lots of counters to immobilize and gain position. Lots of trapping hands and disruption drills. My favorite are the 1-beat and 1 & 1/2 beat counters. We still got in a good workout, but I'll have plenty in the take for a weight workout tonight. This week has been crazy; I haven't lifted at all this week.

Another great workout. The warm-up was very taxing! It also makes it tougher that the outside temperature is climbing to near 90' now. Warm-up (3min / 1 min) jump rope: 3 rounds shadow boxing: 2 rounds Heavy bag work: (3min / 30 sec) Not sure how many rounds we did. Maybe 8. We focused on power and correct form by throwing 3-4 punch combinations. This was endless. I was completely gassed by the time we finished Kicking drills; just the basics. Nothing fancy here, but the fatigue from the punching combinations made basic kicking all I could handle Exhaustion Circuit: (2min / 30 sec) jump rope heavy bag (thai boxing) 35# dumbbell swing heavy bag

Saturday was one of those blessed days where everything happens perfectly! We had a chance of shows and temps supposed to be on the cool side, but we got into the 80s and the sky was gorgeous!!! We took the kids to Colorado Bend state park and spent about 8 hours outdoors. 4 hours of kayaking, a late picnic, some fishing, a short hike, and swimming made for an absolutely perfect day. We rented two 2-person kayaks. My wife and I rowed while the kids sat up front and just 'kicked it'. Round trip was about 2 miles. Not much compared to what we normally do, but we had 50 or 70 extra pounds, depending on who was riding with us. That was EXHAUSTING on the lower back and hip-flexors. My son and I took the dog for a 1.25 mile jog on Sunday evening. I was impressed that my 7 yr old boy could sustain a jog for that distance. This was a great change of pace from the usual solitary pursuit of fitness.